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Friday, 6 November 2015

"The Taranis Model 9 Lifter series was adapted from the ultra heavy Model 40 Tracked series for local conditions of water heavy landscapes and other such challenging environments unsuited to the Model 40. The MkIII standard hull for all Taranis models weighs in at standard count gravity 1.0 at around 55 tons of titanium alloy armour and internal systems along with the GroatVey MkX HeavyIon Reasc Fusion Reactor that provides the electricity. Using the principle of ion particle beam collision to ignite fuel pellets the MkX reactor provides some 3000 horse power or about 3480Kw of usable electrical energy to the power train. The Model 9 features a hover skirt made of Hackamold maxdure composite which is heat and tear resistant and on good ground can reach nearly forty five miles per hour. There are four trained operators who are drawn from the Fortress and Fleet arms of the Prydian Army. Using the Bragan Memetic Neural Linkage system the crew are mentally attached to the vehicle and control its system. This is a dry linkage as all wet implants were banned after the Gurtan Activation. There is a driver centrally located, a communications and drone controller who handles the screen of drones the tank has and its comms gear. The third crew member is the knight who operates the primary weapon systems and secondary linked weapons. Lastly the artificer who oversees the condition of the vehicle and all minor in combat functions often sharing the work of the secondary weapons and drones. There are a great number of variants and local specialised variants too. Centrally these are the Type A the most common variant mounting a Bodkin AP 130mm Cannon which features several choices of munitions including the Phelot Ex22 AP for anti-vehicle use and the TX12 Imploder for infantry clearance as well as the Habkut Variacluster which is a middle class multi-target round. The Type A mounts a secondary weapon the Angis Mk9 22mm Automatic Rifle. Type B is the command variant of the Model 6 and is allocated at a rate of one to three or one to four of that of the Type A. With improved comms suite and space for an additional operator if required the Type B has a modified turret with better optics and range finders as well as a Moth 88 Rotary Cannon centrally mounted. Type B also has the Bodkin AP 130mm main gun and the Angis Mk9 too. Type C of the Model 6 features a turret crewed by a specially trained gunner the main gun being the terrifying super heavy Fretan SBP9 Sequence Particle Beamer with the space removed from the main hull of the gunner being taken up with a small secondary GroatVey MkV HeavyIon Reasc Fusion Reactor slaved purely to the SBP9 and its massive energy requirements for sustained rates of fire. The Type D is intended for close in warfare in urban and is the siege warfare choice with a re-enforced turret sporting twin Ron MegaMax II 95mm Hi-Ex Launchers. The Ron weapon system has reduced range compared to the reach of the Bodkin 130mm but its destructive potential matches the hellish maelstrom of the SBP9. Type E Model 9 Taranis Armoured Personnel Carrier. The Type E features a rear hatch and additional hull armour at the expense of a turret and two of the four crew normally in the tank. Instead a well furnished internal bay has space for a dozen or more fully equipped Retained Knights or near a platoon of Muster or other non-armoured infantry. The APC type has a top mounted Angis Mk9 22mm Automatic Rifle giving fire support to disembarking troops and is the favoured transport of most in free fire zones. Other Trainer Series have details of the less common variants of the Model 9."

Academy Auto-Trainer Series 52, New Glastonbury, 4335IC

This month we have added ten, yes, ten new Taranis variant main battle tanks to our 15mm range. Five of these are Wheeled and five are Lifter (Hover) propulsion type. All were designed by industry legend Bob Naismith. These tanks are large resin and in some cases white metal kits in 15mm scale suitable not only for space opera settings but also near future or many other wargaming genres. This article deals with the five variants of hover, which we term 'Lifter' Taranis under code IAF102. These are variants (A,B,C,D and E) of IAF102 Taranis Lifter Main Battle Tank so please read on for each of them or go straight HERE:

IAF102A Taranis Lifter MBT Cannon Turret

This is the core type of hover Taranis main battle tank with projectile turret. It is composed of five resin and white metal pieces which are the upper hull, the hover skirt unit, projectile cannon turret as well as the main gun and the sponson gun both in white metal. It is easy to assemble and is designed to be used for wargaming and thus it is durable. Assembled this vehicle is about 90mm long and 55mm wide. We offer the choice of purchasing one kit or on the drop down menu the purchase of three with a saving of 10% on screen. Price 18.00GBP. Go HERE.

IAF102B Taranis Lifter MBT Command Turret

This is the platoon command type of hover Taranis with projectile turret with additional rotary weapon and comms suite. It is composed of five resin and white metal pieces which are the upper hull, the hover skirt unit, projectile cannon command turret as well as the main gun and the sponson gun in white metal. It is easy to assemble and is designed to be used for wargaming and thus it is durable. Assembled this vehicle is about 90mm long and 55mm wide. We offer the choice of purchasing one kit or on the drop down menu the purchase of three with a saving of 10% on screen. Price 18.00GBP. Go HERE.

IAF102C Taranis Lifter MBT SPB Energy Turret

This is a hover Taranis main battle tank with an energy weapon turret featuring a small cabin for a crewman. It is composed of three resin pieces which are the upper hull, the hover skirt unit and SPB energy weapon turret. It is easy to assemble and is designed to be used for wargaming and thus it is durable. Assembled this vehicle is about 90mm long and 55mm wide. We offer the choice of purchasing one kit or on the drop down menu the purchase of three with a saving of 10% on screen. Price 18.00GBP. Go HERE.

IAF102D Taranis Lifter MBT Siege Turret

This is a hoverTaranis main battle tank with a double weapon turret for close in destruction. It is composed of four resin and white metal pieces which are the upper hull, the hover skirt unit, siege double turret as well as the sponson gun. It is easy to assemble and is designed to be used for wargaming and thus it is durable. Assembled this vehicle is about 90mm long and 55mm wide. We offer the choice of purchasing one kit or on the drop down menu the purchase of three with a saving of 10% on screen. Price 18.00GBP. Go HERE.

IAF102E Taranis Lifter APC

This is a Taranis tank with a re-purposed function as a hover super heavy Armoured Personnel Carrier capable of carrying two squads or more into battle. It is composed of three resin and white metal pieces which are the hover skirt unit, the APC upper hull and the sponson gun. It is easy to assemble and is designed to be used for wargaming and thus it is durable. Assembled this vehicle is about 90mm long and 55mm wide. We offer the choice of purchasing one kit or on the drop down menu the purchase of three with a saving of 10% on screen. Price 18.00GBP Go HERE.

Here are pictures of all the IAF102 variants as their parts with under laying scale in 1cm squares for you to look at. All of these images and more are on the web pages for the tanks.

Taranis is a top of the line main battle tank and among the biggest land vehicles fielded by Humans in the Prydian Precinct. Its a big model and sometimes its hard to tell this from photos so here are images showing the hover variants of Taranis next to other codes in our 15mm range. Each has a caption to tell you more.

IAF102A with IAF015 Had Dome, IAF043 Power Spire and IAF008 Retained Knights

IAF102D next to Adder Comms Lifter. Its nearly three times larger!

See how big Taranis is! A proper main battle tank for your sci-fi wargaming.

Taranis Tanks make use of a screen of Drones acting as a defensive, offensive, repair group controlled by the tank itself. These are IAF081 Taranis Running Drones and these can be seen HERE on our website as a pack and as singles. If you would like to read more about the Taranis in the fictional setting of The Ion Age please visit our blog and this INFORMATION BURST article. Its a great read and while primarily about the Model 40 Tracked Taranis series it tells you all about this miraculous vehicle.

We have released ten tanks this month and will release the first two non-military character packs sculpted by Dave Foley later this month too. We will also be taking part in the fantastic Black Friday Weekend offer at the end of November but details of that towards the end of the month. You get a free miniature with every order and this is currently IMP27 Florian Pumpkin Spore (worth 0.60GBP) you can learn more about that HERE. We have just upgraded and expanded our Rewards Programme (every customer earns points on every order and can use them for bonuses!) see more on that HERE. Lastly if you have not signed up for our Mailchimp email every week (link is on the top right of our blog's home page) then please do so, its free and there is an exclusive offer with up to 50% off a code every month only seen in the email.

Online Fans of the Ion Age

The Ion Age

Near a thousand years has passed since the galaxy brought itself to the brink of extinction in the Wars of the Khanate. Dragon ships burned a thousand worlds and humanity sank to its knees amid the ruins of its once glittering stellar commonwealth. At the battle for the Aldan star system the Ban of Prejudice was lifted and for once the liberated soldiers of the Free Companies stood shoulder to shoulder with the gene soldiers of the sterile Imperial Commonwealth; mankind once more united to stop an overwhelming alien threat. A billion men and woman died fighting and the matter gateway on Aldan IV newly built by the Khanate spewed forth legions from across the galactic plane at a rate that even the fanatical Templars of the Free Companies could not halt. It was then, according to the scorched records of the Starvaulters, that the Templars committed the greatest act of treachery even committed upon the body of humanity; creating the Dolorous Expanses. Whole star systems vanished and were replaced with impenetrable clouds of dust, covering dozens of light years each. An artefact of ancient design in the Aldan system, discovered by the Templars but kept secret, the Dolorous Expanses ended the wars at a stroke. Death and destruction beyond toll, changing the very face of the galaxy and all was still; the Free Companies cast out the Templars and the Imperium retreated into its shattered self. The Khanate...gone…for the time being.

Dark times followed and the fate of mankind looked grim, starvation gained hold and commerce fell to the wayside, as few starships could navigate the Dolorous Expanses and contact with the clouds meant instant obliteration. Inhabited worlds tortured their peoples in desperate acts of accelerated terra-forming; needing the land to feed themselves now that commerce was gone. The once zealot and fanatical Free Companies settled into an agrarian civilisation of fifty worlds bonded loosely by their ruling Barons, those of the Free Companies who had retained the armour and weapons of the mighty Crusader regiments.

On worlds such as New Glastonbury and its orbiting Tor these Barons consolidated their powers and on the whole were good to their people, they needed to be; too much had been lost already. Centuries passed and the region of space containing these green and pleasant worlds became known as the Prydian Precinct. Each stellar system looked to itself for sustenance and as technology returned the mighty starships refined their engines and learned how to use the titanic power of the Ion to generate intense magnetic fields and transport themselves instantly from one system to the next avoiding the deadly 'Dolo Clouds'. The need for a collective leadership became clear once more.

The core systems of Prydian space elected a council of Barons, who became the Aeddan's, to lead them and from among their number a titular head was chosen; a king to act on the behalf of all. To prevent the possible imperial ambitions of the past no standing army was allowed to be in the hands of the Aeddan Council or the King who resided on New Glastonbury. Each system would tend to its own needs to fend off pirates and mercenaries who did not respect the King's laws. Allotted to the Aeddan and the King were the million strong Starvaulters, an armed retinue to police the Prydian Precinct, but with no authority or desire to interfere with the Barons and their worlds; their impartiality was all that kept a vital respect for their judgements in matters the Barons could not agree upon.

For a time this arrangement worked and then war once more threatened the worlds of the Prydian Precinct, and war required troops. Millions of soldiers dressed once more in the augmented armour of their forefathers once more took to the field of battle on a hundred planets and countless orbiters and asteroids. It was in war that disaster fell, King Cyon III was killed, and he left his infant daughter in his place. A mere babe could not administer the needs of the Aeddan and their billions of charges, a guardianship was needed. The duty fell to Reckart Nevall a mighty Baron known as the 'Kingmaker' but his guardianship was not greeted by all with joy, over the fifteen years that followed two great camps grew within Prydian space and the Aeddan council split in twain.

A minor Baron whose world Kendal III was poor but populous brought the building tension to a head. Baron Kacj Dace rebelled against a judgement of the Starvaulters and called upon the Marcher Barons of the outer systems of Prydian space to assist him. This they did, seeing the Starvaulters as nothing more than Nevall's retinue to ensure his false control of the Aeddan Council. Naming themselves the League of Canlaster they elected Prince Edmund Bluefort as their rightful heir to the crown of Prydia and attacked Kendal III destroying the small force of Starvaulters on the planet. This single act ignited a civil war, a conflict the largest seen by the worlds of Prydian space for centuries. Nevall reacted with rage and called on the support of his own Marcher Barons to control the now teenage Princess Daphne Cyon and the throne she represented. He headed the League of Yordan named for his home world. The first battle of the Prydian Civil War was fought on Kendal III, many more soon followed. An elite strike force of Starvaulters stole Princess Cyon from Nevall's grasp and spirited her away to New Glastonbury where they now reside in force.

It is now the twelfth year of the Civil War and after suffering terrible setbacks and defeats the white and red uniformed troops of the Prydian Army have gained new vigour and are pushing the Leagues to their limit.Led by the veterans of the Starvaulters and driven by the Code Gallant the now adult Princess Daphne Cyon has promised to liberate each and every world in the Precinct and return it to the safe holding of the Addan Council.This she is doing to great effect and none in the Leagues seem able to prevent the cheering crowds and the flocking to the banners of the Addan.The Civil War might be nearing its end and for many this cannot come soon enough.

Rumours abound about the ever increasing numbers of Muster and Retained along with some of the shining lights of the Starvaulters being sent to the remote Carmarthen star cluster.Some have hinted that perhaps the Leagues are not the prime threat to Prydia and something else, something terrible lurks at the edge of Precinct space.An ancient enemy that all the preparation and new vitality of the Prydian Army may not be able to halt.

Do you want to liberate worlds held by the Marcher Barons or resist the advance of the Prydian Army? Or do you dream and fear of what is occurring in the remote Carmarthen star cluster?